This is a zine dedicated to death/thrash, technical and traditional death metal for more info contact hatredmeanswar@yahoo.com looking for new authors do to lack of time to cover everything email me at the email listed above if you want to do reviews and interviews for the blog.

Monday, March 28, 2016

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

Me (João Valentim - vocal) and my cousin, Alan Machado (guitar), started the activities of the band in September 2012. Influenced by UK and Swedish old school death metal bands, like: Carcass, Benediction, Bolt Thrower, Entombed, Dismember and At the Gates we wrote the first two songs (Necrophagous Majesty and Walking Corpse Syndrome respectively), and recruited Ted Fernandes (bass) and Wellington Cunha (drums) for the band. We made the first rehearsals adding to the set "Incarnated Solvent Abuse" (Carcass) and "Slaughter of the Soul" (At the Gates). A few weeks later Willian Passos (guitar) joined us.

2.Recently you have released a demo,how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

"Funeral Grounds" is a death metal album basically. "Oath with no Words" the intro, is a song with very melodic and atmospheric guitars. "Tower of Silence" unleashes blast beats and a visceral sound. "Walking Corpse Syndrome" is the longest song in the album. It's the song with more variation too. There's no chorus and bpm changes all the time... "Necrophagous Majesty", is a typical 90's death metal song with blasts and doom parts.

3.The band has been around since 2012 but waited until 2016 to release any music, can you tell us a little bit more about the first 4 years?

Before we find Daniel Escobar (who made the recording, mixing and mastering) in Rio de Janeiro, we recorded in three different studios in our city (Teresópolis), but nothing was satisfactory, two years passed in this process. So in the meantime we did some shows and wrote other songs to be released in the future. In early 2015 we started the actual recording, and the entire production process (recording, mixing, mastering, graphic work and everything else) lasted about one year.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

I write about about bad feelings, horror, death, other ancient cultures... "Tower of Silence" talks about Zoroastrian Towers, "Walking Corpse Syndrome" is a song in the first person and talks about the horror of the "Cotard Delusion". "Necrophagous Majesty" talks about a dystopian future where the Vulture reigns supreme.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Vulture Wings'?

We wanted a name with the word: "Vulture". The entity "Vulture" symbolizes very well death metal in our view, so we added "Wings" to become more poetical.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Our stage performance is very intense, as we do a few shows we always have a lot of energy to spend on stage, it helps in intensity. We play the songs faster and it creates a stifling atmosphere on the stage.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

Only a few shows in Brazil. There's no tour plan yet.

8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

Yeah, we're looking for a label, to release our EP "Funeral Grounds" or a future release. "Funeral Grounds" would be released in Brazil in digifile format, but the brazilian label gave up. But now we are open to worldwide proposals.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal?

We had little feedback so far, but what we had was very positive in Portugal and in the United States. And in our country the repercussion was bigger and we had a good feedback too.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

We want to continue playing death metal, but adding many different elements to the sound without restrictions. We always try to do different songs from each other. The EP songs speak for themselves, because they are very different from each other. And we also want to do a concept album in the future.

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

We are very influenced by the old school death metal, as some bands that we mentioned above. And what we are listening, I will speak for myself: Tribulation, Dead Congregation, Sonne Adam, Necros Christos... some icelandic black metal bands like: Svartidauði, Misþyrming, Sinmara, Naðra... and some brazilian doom metal bands like: Jupiterian, Son of a Witch, Monster Coyote, Saturndust...

12.How would you describe your views on Occultism?

We have curiosity in some themes. Mainly about life after death. But on the whole we approach the subjects in the third person, by the experiences of others.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

We would like to thank John and Extreme Metal Zine for your interest in the band. And for Brazilians: Gostaríamos de deixar essa mensagem em português para os brasileiros que sei que estão lendo também, obrigado pelo apoio e pela força de sempre! We expect 2016 to be a year of many shows! And in 2017 we expect to release some new material, if possible. Thanks for the support. Necro hailz from Brazil!!!

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?: Yes, Diagnosis started in 2014 as a personal project by Erubey and Isabel; since we were out of work from our bands respectably we decided to start in a different style that we were involved at that time. With the pass of the time, and checking the good point of view from people involved in Metal Music Mexican scene; we decided to get it to the next level and then we recruited talented guys to complete the final Diagnosis line up.

2.In July you had released your first album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording? As we mention in several times; Diagnosis takes roots from 90s Death Metal Style mixing it with important modern elements such as harmonic progressions and modal fusions used mainly in jazz and progressive music styles but keeping Diagnosis music into the brutal Death Metal vain.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music? The concept of the lyrical topics on Sympathy for disease is deeply inspired by the testimony written by a critical patient, very important for Sigmund Freud’s investigations and diagnostics. The patient was Daniel Paul Schreber, a German man who suffered psychiatric detention. The band’s concept is designed and inspired by all people like Schreber, who have psychological and psychiatric disorders. We are thinking about continuing with these topics for the next album, but that we will give news at the time

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Diagnosis'? “Diagnosis” means the art of identifying a disease or illness. The word “diagnosis” has a great power. A proper or improper diagnosis involves healing or death of a patient. So, while reading a text of Freud, it seemed appropriate “Diagnosis” for the band name.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?Each show has something different or special. Although specifically, the “Monstruos del Metal Mexicano” fest, and our nationwide venues has been more explosives. We are a band very integrated; our shows are dynamics. We enjoyed the stage!!

The Metal Fests has responded really well with our music, the people identified themselves with our sound and that’s has made them answering with good vibe, it feed us back up and down from the scenario.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?: Yes, we’re working on promote our first studio job named “Sympathy for Disease” with several global managers; and we’re expecting for the best conditions to start to touring at all. Nowadays; we have a nationwide tour in Mexico named “Blasphemy Forces” which will cover the most important places and fests in our Country; it will take place this summer in 2016.

7.The album was released on Db Metal Recording, can you tell us a little bit more about this label? dB Metal Recording is an independent Recording Studio set up 6 years ago; thought to support Mexican Metal Scene engaged with other organization named “Metal Demons”. In which talented bands could record and promote their music in live.

dB Metal Recording has a good tools and music background to deploy music worldwide; It was founded by Guitarist Erubey diBello; hence the name dB (diBello) and Leo Rodriguez (RIP).

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal? Response to our job has been good; and reviews in some worldwide places has support Diagnosis to start to engage more people to our project day by day; we really appreciate all the fans and people to take a time to listen our songs and we are thanked with them for the following up.

9.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?

Arturo and Ever used to be part of a Melodic Death Band called “Relief of the Souls”. It last 2 years and a half. After that, many projects were tried, which of them had influences of black, death, shoegaze, technic and melodic metal. Nowdays they have 2 tentative projects; one of them is a Grind Death Metal sound called #Trabestia” and the other is a concept of Black Metal that still is in working process

Isabel was important part of Archetype and Cornucopia project; as well in other female fronted bands; so far she is focused 100% in Diagnosis.

Chaak was part of Hyperion band and nowadays he’s focused on Diagnosis totally.

Erubey was part of Mutilated and Hyperion bands; nowadays he’s working separately in a personal project named diBello Project that is based on rock – fusion style; nevertheless; He’s focused on Diagnosis 100%.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future? We have good plans and strategies to continue working and producing during the next 3-5 years; so … it is important to highlight that the band mindset is to transcend in Metal Music; hence we has settled important strategies to establish market’s intelligence to continue in the like of the people in future. In more simple words there is DIAGNOSIS for a long period of time.

11. What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Technical Death metal is one of the biggest genres with more influence in the band, also the Doom and its variants,

Death, Sepultura, Morbid Angel, Vile, Carcass, Iron Maiden, At the gates, Bolt Thrower is as well a big influence.

Saturday, March 26, 2016

The Zenith Passage are a band from California that plays a very technical and brutal form of death metal and this is a review of their 2016 album "Solipsist" which will be released in April by Unique Leader.

Avant garde sounds start off the album and after the into the music starts going into more of a heavy and technical musical direction along with soem death metal growls and you can also hear a lot of progressive structures in the bands musical style and when the music speeds up a great amount of technical elements can be heard.

Atmospheric sounds and clean singing can be heard in the music at times and you can also hear all of the musical instruments that are present on the recording and some parts of the songs bring in a small amount of clean playing and the solos and leads are very melodic and also remain true to a very technical and progressive musical style.

The songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and as the album progresses high pitched screams start to be utilized a lot more and they also bring in a brief instrumental track that brings elements of jazz onto the recording before returning back to a heavier sound while also adding symphonic elements onto the recording.

The Zenith Process plays a style of death metal that is very brutal, technical and progressive sounding while also being very original at the same time, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover the philosophical and metaphysical idea of solipsism.

In my opinion The Zenith Process are a very great sounding technical death metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out t his album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Simulated Reality" "Metaphysical Solipsism" and "Luminary Singularity". 8 out of 10.

Omophogia are a band from Switzerland that plays a very brutal form of death metal and this is a review of their 2016 album "In The Name Of Chaos" which will be released in April by Unique Leader.

Dark sound effects and spoken word samples start off the album along with some programmed beats and after the intro the music starts going into more of a heavier direction along with some brutal blast beats and dark sounding melodies and after awhile death metal growls make their presence known on the recording.

When guitar solos and leads are utilized they give the music more of a technical feeling and high pitched screams can also be heard in some parts of the songs and the tracks also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and you can also hear all of the musical instruments that are present on the recording and there is also a brief use of war samples while a later track brings in a small amount of acoustic guitars while the main focus remains more on a heavy and brutal style and there is also a brief use of prog elements.

Omophagia plays a style of death metal that is very brutal while also being very technical at times and you can also hear a great amount of talent and skill present throughout the recording, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover violence and war themes.

In my opinion Omophagia are a very great sounding brutal and technical death metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this recording. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Willing Whore" "Love Song" and "Wheel In The Engine". 8 out of 10.

Fear Factory have returned with a new album that continues the industrial/groove metal sound of previous recordings and this is a review of their 2015 album "Genexus" which was released by Nuclear Blast.

Industrial sounds along with spoken word parts start off the album before going into more of a heavier and symphonic musical direction while also keeping the industrial elements and after awhile aggressive vocals make their presence known on the recording and you can also hear a lot of groove metal elements in the guitar riffing.

Clean singing can be heard quite a bit throughout the recording and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and just like the other albums also avoid using any solos and leads and all of the musical instruments have a very powerful sound to them and some songs also mix in elements of nu metal and metalcore and the last track is very long and epic in length and also brings in a brief use of spoken word parts.

Fear Factory creates another recording that remains true to the musical style that they have been playing for more than 20 years and if you heard the other albums you know what to expect, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover technology, science fiction, hate, society and anti religion themes.

In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Fear Factory and if you are a fan of this band, you should enjoy this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Anodized" "Protmech" "Regenerate" and "Expiration Date". 8 out of 10.

Friday, March 25, 2016

Deathtale are a band from Austria that plays a mixture of death and thrash metal and this is a review of their 2016 album "Whole World Burns" which was released by Terrasound Records.

Atmospheric synths start off the album before going into more of a heavy thrash metal direction and all of the musical instruments that are present on the recording and after awhile death metal growls that have a tinge of thrash to them are added into the music along with some high pitched screams and melodic riffs.

Guitar solos and leads are done in a very melodic and old school metal style and the vocals also add in a touch of melodic groove metal at times while traditional clean singing can also be heard in some songs and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and the music also brings in a lot of mid 80's and early 90's influences and clean playing along with classical guitars can also be heard briefly and they also bring in a brief instrumental before closing with a vocal track.

Deathtale plays a musical style that takes a melodic style of thrash and mixes it in with death metal to create an old school style of their own, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover dark and violent themes.

In my opinion Deathtale are a very great sounding mixture of death and thrash metal and if you are a fan of those musical genres, you should check out t his band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Flesh For Sale" "Before blood Flows" "Warparth" and "From Hell Deutsch". 8 out of 10.

Burning Hatred are a band from the Netherlands that plays an old school form of death metal and this is a review of their 2016 album "Carnage" which will be released in April by Vic Records.

Sounds of war start off the album along with some synths in the background before going into a heavier musical direction which also introduces death metal growls and morbid sounding melodies onto the recording and when the music speeds up a great amount of blast beats can be heard and the music is very heavily rooted in the 90's.

Throughout the recording you can hear a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and the solos and leads are very dark and melodic and also remain true to an old school style of death metal and the war samples also make a return later on during the recording before making a return back to a heavier musical direction and all of the musical instruments have a very powerful sound to them and some of the fast riffs also bring in a small amount of tremolo picking.

Burning Hatred plays a style of death metal that is very old school and rooted in the early 90's and also seems to be heavily influenced by both the Dutch and Swedish scenes of that era, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover darkness, war and anti religion themes.

In my opinion Burning Hatred are a very great sounding old school death metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Reign Of Horror" "Religious Insanity" "Doomed City" and "March Towards Death". 8 out of 10.

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit aboutthe band?

The band was formed in Krasnodar (southern Russia) in 2007. The band consists of twopeople, I(Dmitry) - guitarist and vocalist and drummer Ilya. For live performances, wetake session musicians. At the moment, we have already released three albums on theRussian label Irond. Music we have a mixture of death, Thrash. black and variousexperiments with other genres of music.

2.In February you had released a new album, how would you describe the musical soundthat is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you havereleased in the past?

While working on the album sound, we were inspired by Gojira, late Soulfly, trying tomake it not too oldschool and not very modern.Our new album "Inbox" It differs fromprevious ones in that it has become much more experimentation with non-metall musicalgenres. The tenth track was originally conceived as a surf-rock, and then we beat inthe metal, but the bonus recorded it in its original form, using even with saxophone.It is on this album, I finally got vocal sound that it suited me completely.

3.The band has been around since 2007 and so far had only released 3 albums, can youtell us a little bit more about the gaps in between releases?

as a band, we began to exist in 2011. By 2011 I consider as a "test". The second albumwas released two years later, the third delayed for three years, we have spent moretime working on it.of each song, we are working very hard, trying to make it not looklike the previous ones, it takes a very long time.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newermusic?

The first song tells the story of war, about a man who fights for peace in the future,thus destroying the world in the present. The second song "kelp needs money for newshoes" performed at the cowboy style of women who live at the expense of men whilegiving nothing in return, such as parasites. "juice after the end of the world" simplepost-apocalyptic story. Our lyrics are embracing social aspects, mental disorders,sometimes direct and undisguised aggression, as an emotional stream of consciousness.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Citrus Lobster'?

When coming up with the band's name and the first song, I did not think how everyonewill go, I just did what seemed right to me. We had some strange, memorable name. Itmeans nothing, we might be called "grapefruit tumor" or "Tomato Land staphylococcalgrasshoppers" but stopped at the "Citrus Lobster". The Russian orthodox metal societycan not accept such a name, because we play sufficiently heavy music and should bereferred to as a "human bones harvester" or "limb amputation".

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also howwould you describe your stage performance?

The best show was in Krasnodar, in the city in which we live in the death Black deathfest. In general, we rarely give concerts, this is due to the fact that theunderground in Russia ceases to be interesting, people do not go to concerts. We areprimarily interested in writing music, concerts, this is another matter.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?until the invitations have been received

8.The new album was released on Irond\Molot Records, can you tell us a little bit moreabout this label?

a leading Russian label engaged in metal music. in Russia they release on licenseDimmu Borgir, Anthrax, Covenant, Manowar, Behemoth.And of course they release theRussian bands is engaged in a subsidiary of the Molot.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of extrememetal?

Sometimes the letters in the mail, but we are only now thinking of promoting bandoutside Russia.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

Maybe Times?

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on yourmusic and also what are you listening to nowadays?

metal bands that have influenced me is Pantera, Gojira, Sepultura, Soulfly,Darkthrone. Slayer, Immortal, Emperor, grindcore bands. Now I listen to Rammstein, I like their approach to composition and academic music, in particular, I was very inspired by Mozart.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

I work as a system administrator, every day I have the install and repairing.I play board games.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

If you want to hear and understand the Citrus lobster, you have to forget about what you've heard before, all comparisons and parallels violate the integrity of the ideas and the composition of our music.

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Apelsinovaya Krevetka a.k.a Citrus Lobster are a band from Russia that plays a mixture of death metal, thrash and hardcore and this is a review of their 2016 album "Inbox" which was released as a joint effort between Irond and Molot.

A very heavy sound starts off the album along with some melodic guitar leads and all of the musical instruments sound very powerful and after awhile aggressive screams are added into the music and there is also a brief use of whistling on one of the tracks and the riffs also bring in a decent amount of melody.

You can hear a lot of hardcore elements in both the vocals and riffs and when the music speeds up thrash influences are added onto the recording along with a great amount of blast beats while also mixing in the heaviness of death metal and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and back up gang shouts can also be heard at times and most of the songs stick to a heavy sound while one song does add in Asian style instruments and the last track utilizes acoustic guitars along with saxophones briefly.

Apelsinovaya Krevetka plays a musical style that takes death metal, thrash and hardcore and mixes them together to create their own style of schizo metal, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics are written in Russian and cover anti humanism, violence, psychedelia, mental/social issues and black humour themes.

In my opinion Apelsinovaya Krevetka are a very great sounding mixture of death metal, thrash and hardcore and if you are a fan of those musical genres, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Kelp needs Money For New Shoes" "One With Gills Under the Skirt" "Stuffed Baggy Face" and "The Waves Chopped Sun". 8 out of 10.

Geryon are a duo from New York that plays a very avant garde, technical and progressive form of death metal as well as consisting of 2 members of Krallice and this is a review of their 2016 album "The Wound And The Bow" which will be released in April by Profound Lore.

A very powerful bass guitar sound which is also utilized as a lead instrument along with drums start off the album bringing in a progressive flavor to the recording and when the music speeds up a great amount of blast beats can be heard along with some death metal growls and the songs also get very technical.

Avant garde elements can be heard in the music in a way they have not been done in the death metal genre along with a small amount of synths which also gives the music more of an experimental feeling and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and some tracks are long and epic in length and there is also a brief use of psychedelic elements.

Geryon plays a style of progressive and technical death metal that is a lot different than most bands of this genre mixing in avant garde, psychedelic and experimental elements while also using the bass guitar as a lead instruments to create something original, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover dark and philosophical themes.

In my opinion Geryon are a very decent sounding avant garde, progressive, technical death metal band and if you are looking for something original, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Silent Command" "Skein" and "The Wound And The Bow". 7/5 out of 10.

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band? -Comatose, we started as a 4 piece death metal band here in Cebu City, Philippines that was way back 2003. At first, we were a cover band, the beginning was really funny actually, we had rehearsals in a small room inside our house with no professional equipments. Most of the stuffs we played are from Hypocrisy, some Deicide and Morbid Angel etc. We also went through several line-up changes but the band will stay to its old school death metal influence. As of now there’s 4 of us with Bellz (Guitar) taking up the duties on vocals when our previous vocalist left the band. Milo (Guitar) is also one of the original members and still with the band. Surge (Bass) also joined the band and doing great on it, and Kyndall (drums) who had been playing with couple of band before and later decided to be a full time drummer for Comatose.

2.In 2015 you had released both a demo and a full length, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on both of the recordings and also how do they differ from each other? For me they were both great. How they differ? the ultimate revenge was more aggressive in terms of blast beats and the brutality of the vocals while our new stuff are still extreme, brutal and the presence of old school is always there, I can't really compare the two release right now until we finish polishing our demos. line up changes can also affect the musical sound but the soul is always there.

3.In between 2010 and 2015 there was no music being released, can you tell us a little bit more about the 5 year gap? -Yeah! It was really a long time for the band.but to be honest the ultimate revenge should have been released in 2012 but due to some circumstances it was delayed. back in the day those were really hard times. Milo had to attend to his personal life for his work, at the same time I need to go back abroad to finish a Job contract. But our work did help us a lot. During the time that we are working, we keep some money so we can buy our own equipment for the band because we know someday we will return and we will be more ready to make our materials once again with full force hahah.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music? -For our new music it focus on religion, death, darkness, and apocalypse. Lyrics are important for us, we can say that it is also one of the important element for this kind of music.

5.Originally the band was known as 'Churchburner', what was the cause of the new change and also the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Comatose'? church burner sounds to corny.i decided to name the band comatose coz at that span of time i kept on spinning kreator’s coma of soul and their I got the idea, and i think theres is no one else is using that name, there is some but maybe inactive or disband.

6.In the beginning the band started out playing 'Hypocrisy' covers, was this band meant to be a cover band at first before you started writing your own material? -I think most of the bands started that way as well. Yes I admit Hypocrisy had a great impact on us and in a way we shaped our style specially on the first 3 albums (Penetralia, Osculum Obscenum, & The The Fourth Dimension). Then we noticed that we were improving and the whole situation to look better and better, we decided to make our own materials for our tracks and see if it will be good and turns out it did. Until now we still play cover songs but not that much, just 1 or 2 songs in a set of 8-10 songs every time we have a gig.

7.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance? I am very sure that was last year(August 2015) in Ilo-Ilo city, coz the sound system was awesome, the crowd was good the promoters was very accommodating, and our performance level was 666% evil!!! Lol... we really love to go back there hopefully if they will invite us again

8.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future? -Yeah we have a gig outside cebu, that will be on may 28 2016 in Cagayan de Oro. Tour abroad I still don’t know. It would involve a big amount of money, hopefully someday.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal? -Worldwide level??? I think it's still very very low coz’ nobody recognized us outside our country yet but So far there were 5 or 6 reviews I have read and most of the comments were positive, hopefully this will be our stepping stone to be recognized, but honestly I really don’t give a shit if they put negative feedbacks on our music coz its their own opinion, always remember " you can't please everyone ". but sometimes we will learn something from the negative feedbacks.

10.Are any of the band members also involved with any other bands or musical projects these days? -Nope, coz every one is quite busy of their individual professions and family, sometimes rehearsal schedule is so damn difficult find.

11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future? -I think we will stick as what we have started. Old school and extreme, but the song's tuning may vary we will be using 7 strings for some of the new stuff i guess.

12.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays? -Commonly we listen to 70's/80's rock heavy metal to mid 80's thrash/death, now a days I kept on listening this nursery rhymes all day long on youtube coz my kid is the one using my laptop lol. But honestly it depends on the mood sometimes heavy/rock, the next day sinister/death/morbid angel/hypocrisy and so on, I even listen to some Viking stuff like BATHORY.

13.How would you describe your views on Satanism and Occultism? -For me this two words have different meanings Satanism, the worship of Satan as supreme will and sometimes modern people use this word as freedom or rebelling from a religious groups. While Occultism is a worship of one SELF as the supreme being.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts? -In behalf of comatose I would like to thank you for the review of our album and spending time doing some questionnaire, To all labels, zines, producers, promoters and etc... try to dig some 3rd world aspiring metal bands, why not give them a chance? I assure you that there are some worth listening. -LEE "Bellz" L.D.

Imperium are a band from the United Kingdom that plays a very technical and brutal form of death metal and this is a review of their 2016 album "Titanomachy" which will be released in May by Ultimate Massacre Productions.

Atmospheric synths and battle sounds start off the album along with some female vocals a few seconds later and after the intro the music goes into more of a heavy and melodic musical direction along with soem technical riffing and when the music speeds up a great amount of blast beats can be heard.

Vocals are mostly deep death metal growls that get very guttural at times along with a few high pitched screams and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and the solos and leads also remain true to a technical style of the genre and all of the musical instruments have a very powerful sound to them and some songs also bring in a small amount of clean playing and acoustic guitars as well as a couple of brief instrumentals along with a touch of middle eastern music on some tracks while the main focus remains more on a heavy and brutal sound.

Imperium plays a style of death metal that is very technical and brutal while also having its own different approach to the genre, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover Roman and Greek Mythology, Ancients and Wars.

In my opinion Imperium are a very great sounding technical and brutal death metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Castrate The Father Of The Sky" "Into Abode Of The Dead" "Minos" and "Titanomachy". 8 out of 10.

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Vulture Wings are a band from Brazil that plays a very old school form of death metal and this is a review of their self released 2016 ep "Funeral Grounds".

Sounds of flies start off the ep before going into more of a dark, heavy and melodic musical direction w here you can also h ear all of the musical instruments that are present on the recording and on the second track the music goes into more of an old school death metal growls and blast beats as well as a small amount of screams.

Throughout the recording you can hear a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and the solos and leads are very dark and melodic and the songs stick mostly to a 90's style of death metal and the whole ep also remains very heavy from beginning to ending of the recording along with one of the tracks being long and epic in length.

Vulture Wings plays a style of death metal that is very dark and heavy in t he early 90's tradition, the production sounds very old school while the lyrics cover death, despair, dystopia an occult themes.

In my opinion Vulture Wings are a very great sounding old school death metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this ep. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Tower Of Silence" and "Necrophagous Majesty". 8 out of 10.

Friday, March 18, 2016

Scolopendra are a band from France that plays a mixture of death, thrash metal and hardcore and this is a review of their self released 2016 album "Cycles".

Electronic music sounds starts off the album and after the intro the music goes for more of a heavier thrash metal direction while the vocals are mostly death metal growls that also have a hardcore tinge to them and when the music speeds up a great amount of brutal blast beats can be heard.

High pitched screams can be heard in the music at times along with the riffs also adding melodies into some parts of the songs and there are also back up gang shouts being into into certain sections of the recording and the solos and leads remain true to an extreme metal style and they also add in some modern elements at times and electronic music sounds also make a return on a later track and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts while a later song brings in a brief use of movie samples.

Scholpendra plays a musical style that takes death metal and mixes it in with modern thrash and hardcore while also being a lot more heavier than most bands that mix these genres together, the production sounds very professional for being a self released recording while the lyrics cover philosophical and real life themes.

In my opinion Scholopendra are a very great sounding mixture of death metal, thrash and hardcore and if you are a fan of those musical genres, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Purity" "Morbid Psychosis" "End Of Tunnels" and "Psychotic Mass Murder". 8 out of 10.

Strangulate are a band from India that plays a very raw form of death metal and this is a review of their 2016 album "Catacombs Of Decay" which will be released in April by Transcending Obscurity Distribution.

A very dark sound starts off the album along with some guitar leads before going into more of a heavy and brutal direction that also uses a great amount of blast beats and death metal growls and you can also hear all of the musical instruments that are present on t he recording while the riffs also mix in morbid sounding melodies.

High pitched screams can be heard in some parts of the songs and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and when guitar solos and leads are brought into the music they give the songs more of a 90's death metal style and the whole album also remains very heavy and brutal from beginning to ending of the recording.

Strangulate plays a style of death metal that is very raw and brutal while also always remaining heavy and being balanced in between both the old school and modern side of the genre, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover dark and violent themes.

In my opinion Strangulate are a very great sounding raw death metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this recording. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Primordial Execution" "Orchestrated Massacre" and "Catacombs Of Decay". 8 out of 10.

Diagnosis are a band from Mexico that plays an old school form of death metal and this is a review of their 2015 album "Sympathy For Disease" which was released by Db Metal Recording.

A very dark and heavy sound starts off the album along with some death metal growls and after a few seconds morbid sounding melodies and blast beats are added into some parts of the songs and you can also hear a great amount of high pitched screams and 90's influences in the bands musical style.

All of the musical instruments on the recording have a very powerful sound to them and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts while the solos and leads also remain true to an old school style of death metal and some of the riffing also brings progressive structures into certain sections of the recording along with the bass also being used as a lead instrument at times and the whole album also remains very heavy from beginning to ending of the recording while there are also some modern elements to be heard at times.

Diagnosis plays a style of death metal that is mostly rooted in t he old school style while having some modern traces and a more powerful bass guitar sound, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover dark themes.

In my opinion Diagnosis are a very great sounding death metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Seclusion" "Diagnosis" "Sympathy For Disease" and "Stigmatized". 8 out of 10.

Uttertomb are a band from Chile that plays a very old school form of death metal and this is a review of their 2016 ep "Sempiternal" which will be released in April by Pulverised Records.

A very dark yet heavy sounds starts off the ep along with some drum beats and tremolo picking guitar leads a few seconds later and after a minute death metal growls make their presence known on the recording along with a few screams and the leads also start getting more dark, morbid and melodic sounding.

Most of the music is very heavily rooted in the 90's and when the music speeds up it brings in more of a raw style of t he genre along with a great amount of blast beats and Swedish influences and the songs also start bringing in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts while also remaining heavy from beginning to ending of the recording along with both tracks being long and epic in length.

Uttertomb plays a musical style that is very dark, heavy and old school while also adding in their own touch to create a style they call 'Necrological Death Metal', the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover death and darkness themes.

In my opinion Uttertomb are a very great sounding old school death metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this ep. RECOMMENDED TRACK "Excarnation". 8 out of 10.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

We’re a very cohesive group; we’ve all become really good friends over time and spend a lot of time hanging out even when we’re not practicing. We make a point of going to as many shows as possible and love being a part of the local scene. For us, this band is just part of who we are. We practice a lot both as individuals and as a band, are constantly striving to improve ourselves, and we really like to have fun with everything and try to bring that to the music as well.

2.So far you have released 2 ep's, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on both of the recordings and also how do they differ from each other?

Simply put, musically we are a Death Metal band but lyrically we are a bit eclectic. We focus on having a mix of aggressive, progressive, and technical riffs; and we always incorporate groove. The two EPs differ in that the second EP has songs that have more complex composition and the EP is more technical overall.

3.Can you tell us a little bit more about the lyrics the band brings out in the music?

Some are more traditional death metal lyrics and are specific upon that, for example Ripped Off Face is a proper description of how one could actually rip a face off. Others are about a concept or idea, whether it be greed and consequence or artificial life becoming self-aware. The rest are story driven and are about one or more of the characters in our comic book universe and the situations they get into; thus far these have been our most complex songs.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'The Beast Of Nod'?

When we were first brainstorming a lot of things came up, but we wanted to have something that spoke to our music. So from that we came up with ‘Nod’ because we always incorporate groove and our music makes people ‘nod’ their heads, then soon after The Beast of Nod came about. The secondary meaning, which we discovered after the initial inspiration, is that in some citations the ‘Land of Nod’ is where Cain was sent after he killed Abel in Christian mythos. In the ‘Land of Nod’ there were ‘beasts’ which were essentially demons, sometimes called by specific demon names, but the coming of the ‘beast of nod’ to earth is a sign of the coming apocalypse.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Truthfully we are still at our infancy as a performing band. We’ve been lucky enough to play a couple shows with international acts, but really we just like playing out and are still discovering what it means to be a good live act through watching our peers, our heroes, as well as just applying good old trial and error. We work hard at being objective and evaluative of every live show we play and are constantly striving to improve in every way we can. We don’t so much see this as a journey that will ever be complete either, just like with the music, we’re always going to want to improve our live show and bring it to the next level. We have a lot of fun at local shows, ones where people are all part of a community, there’s just nothing like that. One thing we try to push is crowd participation, whether it’s Brendan jumping in the pit during a breakdown or Paul jumping off stage and running around the crowd singing we simply don’t just let people stand there.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

We have a number of local shows coming up and do plan to travel a bit this summer to gig and are hungry for more. As we continue to grow we hope to be able to gig as much as possible in as many places as possible.

7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

We have received some interest, nothing substantive yet. We love the community aspect of music and would be very interested in any relationship we could develop that may lead to us being able to create and play more music.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal?

Not even going to try to bullshit that we have a worldwide appeal, we hope to someday. Although we have had some interaction from people from the Philippines, China, Russia, Mexico, Argentina, and various European countries; albeit a relatively small number it’s incredibly encouraging, as thus far all the feedback we have received has been positive.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

I see us continuing to involve more progressive elements; we plan to record again in the fall where we’ll be upping the technicality while still providing heavy driving rhythms.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Our influences are all over the place, but some staples are Cannibal Corpse, Carcass, and Gojira. We’ve been listening to a lot of Dying Fetus as of late. And we jam on different covers a practice including Megadeth, Sepultura, Motorhead, Liquid Tension Experiment, Rush, Dethklok, and Death.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Görebläster does circuit design, among a number of other things. Thus far he’s built a dynamic programmable Metal Metronome with led displays for practice and a guitar pedal called the Hyperanal Hyperdrive that we will be selling at our local shows; and he plans to build several other styles of pedals in the future on top of working on some new pretty awesome ideas. He’s an incredibly hard working good dude. Brendan is a huge Star Wars fan, enjoys reading Thoreau and Emerson, and he likes beer, preferably dark beer. Nate is a Batman nut, likes his cats, and doing pretty much anything outdoors, like hiking and drinking beer. Paul is comic book fan, likes anime and the 80s, is socio-politically conscience, and goes to the gym a lot.

12.Before we wrap up this interview do you have any final words or thoughts?Be open, be inclusive, stay metal, and bang your head! Playing metal and performing live are incredibly cathartic for us, we live to share that experience with as many as possible.

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?1 - Well, we are MUFA, from São Paulo, Brazil, the band started in 2008, we were friends that used to smoke weed together and listen to metal and hardcore music. At this point we decided to start a band because we have this musical affinity. Some changes of members along the time, but the band still on this same lineup since 2011. Last year 2015 we recorded our debut album Brutality Show and for us was a great experience to record our original songs after this long time with the band. It was something that we used to dream about and then we finally got it. And the result was awesome for us about our first album.2.How would you describe your musical sound?2 - It's hard for us describe how is our sound. I think that is something between death, thrash and hardcore styles, at least is what we can hear when we stop together to listen our music. But we just do our music without thinking in how it will sound or what genre it will englobe.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?3 - I think that our music is a reflect of society which we live. We talk about drugs, violence, corruption, crimes, with a few of humour. But all of them have meanings behind. Like "Junkie Pride" for example, this song explores how society judge someone about his addictions or the way that people looks like. You know, a kind of judgement just because your way of living is different of others. One of our favorite lyrics is "Gold", this one have no meaning behind, it's just saying that we love weed, the name came from the type of weed we buy in our hometown it's called gold weed, hahaha.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'MUFA'?4 - The name is a slang that means weed, haha. Some people think it's a anagram for "fuma" word that means "smoking" in portuguese, but isn't.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?5 - Our first gig was very memorable, we played with Nervochaos a great band here from Brazil. Other gig that we liked was with Test and Nuclëar Fröst in the same venue. Sometimes we play in great places and other times in small places, but it's always awesome to play and meet other persons and bands.I think our stage perfomance is very heavy, at least our vocalist is a heavyweight frontman, and with his growls and the other instruments together people really enjoy the sound. And in ours gigs we play a version of Antichrist song of Sepultura, it's awesome, people really like old stuff.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?6 - At the moment we have some gigs here in our hometown São Paulo, and we are looking for more venues to play and spread our sound. Our plans to future are share and spread a lot our sound, play a lot, release some new material and try to tour in others countries.

7.Currently you are unsigned are you looking for a label or have received any interest?7 - Yes, we are sending our album to labels around the world, but we haven't received offers yet. Here in Brazil we have few labels interested in that kind of sound and it's hard to the undergrounds bands get a sign.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal and hardcore?8 - It's a great surprise for us, we are sharing our music with people of different countries and is amazing that people got interested.I guess we're having a great feedback of people from other countries.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?9 - We hope get a sign with some label to record a new album, we have a lot of new songs ready to be done. Our plans are touring in different countries and meet new bands and friends, new cultures. I guess we want to have a lot a fun with the band, hahaha.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?10 - Our songs are very influenced by metal, hardcore and some brazilian music. There are some bands that was very important at the beginning of our sound, like Cannibal Corpse, Sepultura and Hatebreed. Nowadays we have listened to a lot of different genres of music and bands.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?11 - Well, we work a lot, hahaha. Everyone in the band dedicates a lot of time in ours personal jobs to pay our bills and studying, some of us are teachers, it's a great job. In our free time, we like to drink some beers together and talk a lot of bullshit, hahaha.

12.before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?12 - We want to thank you a lot for this interview, it was a pleasure for us. And for everyone who wants to get more infos about the band, can enter in our website: http://www.mufa666.com/Cheers from Brazil to The True Bringer of Death Zine!

This is a review of a split album between Poland's Terrordome and Brazil's Chaos Synopsis called "Intoxicunts" which was released by Defense Records and we will start off the split with Terrordome a band that plays a brutal form of crossover/thrash.

Their side of the split starts out with a very heavy and brutal old school thrash metal sound along with all of t he musical instruments sounding powerful while t he faster sections also bring in a small amount of blast beats and you can also hear melodies in the riffing while the vocals are mostly hardcore punk style yells.

Back up gang shouts can be heard in the music at times at times and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and one track also brings in a brief use of guitar leads, the production on their side of the recording sounds very professional while the lyrics cover social issues, pathologie's and booze themes.

In my opinion Terrordome are a very great sounding brutal mixture of crossover and thrash and if you are a fan of those musical genres, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Nothing Else Fuckers" and "Beerbong Party".

Next up is Chaos Synopsis continuing their mixture of death metal and thrash.

Their side of the split starts out with a very heard and heavy thrash metal sound that also uses a small amount of melodies while the solos and leads also bring in more of a mid 80's extreme metal style which also leads to understandable death metal growls being added into the music and the leads also have a very technical feeling at times.

You can also hear all of the musical instruments that are present on their side of the recording and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts along with a touch of modern thrash and they also close their side of the split with a cover of Metallica's "Damage Inc", the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover chaos and serial killer themes.

In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Chaos Synopsis and if you are a fan of death and thrash metal, you should check out their side of the split. RECOMMENDED TRACK "Fire On babylon".

In conclusion i feel this is a very great sounding split and I would recommend it to all fans of crossover, thrash and death metal. 8 out of 10.

Chaos Synopsis are a band from Brazil that plays a mixture of death and thrash metal and this is a review of their 2015 album "Seasons of Red" which was released by Black Legion.

Acoustic guitars start off the album along with some more distorted and melodic sounding leads making t heir presence known a few seconds later which also leads up to a heavier thrash metal direction which is more closer to the modern side of t he genre while still having a bit of the old school aggression.

All of the musical instruments have a very powerful sound to them while the vocals are mid 80's style death metal growls that have have are understandable enough for the thrash crowd and some of the riffs also bring in a small amount of melody and some songs also bring in a touch of tribal music and exotic female vocals and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts along with the faster sections of the music using a great amount of blast beats and after awhile solos and leads return on some of the songs and also gives the music even more of an old school death metal style.

Chaos Synopsis plays a style of death/thrash that is more rooted in the mid 80's while also having more of a modern take on the genre, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover chaos and serial killers themes.

In my opinion Chaos Synopsis are a very great sounding mixture of death and thrash metal and if you are a fan of those musical genres, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Gods Upon Mankind" "Brave New Gold" "State Of Blood" and "Four Corners Of The World". 8 out of 10.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Rotting Repugnancy are a band from the United Kingdom that plays a brutal form of death metal with a touch of thrash and this is a review of their 2015 album "Harbringers Of The Last Judgemenet" which was released by CDN Records.

Distorted guitar solos and leads start off the album before going into a heavier direction which also uses a great amount of dark sounding melodies along with all of the musical instruments having a very powerful sound to them and after awhile death metal growls make their presence known on the recording.

A lot of old school death and thrash metal elements can be hear d in the bands musical style and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and high pitched s creams can be heard in some parts of t he songs and when the music speeds up a great amount of blast beats can be heard and while the music is rooted in the mid 80's and early 80's it still mixes in a lot of the more modern and brutal sound and on the last track a small amount of clean playing and spoken words are added into the music

Rotting Repugnancy plays a style of death metal that mixes both the old school and more modern brutal style together with a touch of thrash which makes the music stand out a lot more, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover doom, blasphemy and gore themes.

In my opinion Rotten Repugnancy are a very great sounding mixture of brutal and old school death metal with a touch of thrash and if you are a fan of those musical genres, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Desert Storm" "Hollowed Beast" and "Godless World". 8 out of 10.

Slave One are a band from France that plays a very progressive and technical form of death metal and this is a review of their 2016 album "Disclosed Dioptropic Principles" which will be released on March 25th by Dolorem Records.

Melodic chants, atmospheric sounds, tribal beats and exotic female vocals start off the album and also mix in with the heavier sound a few seconds later along with all of t he musical instruments sounding very powerful and you can also h ear a lot of prog elements in the bands musical style and the vocals are mostly death metal growls.

Spoken word parts can be heard briefly while some of the riffs get very melodic at times and when guitar solos and leads are added into the music they bring in more of a technical style to the bands musical style and a great amount of blast beats can be heard when the music speeds up and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and some songs also bring in a decent amount of clean playing and some songs also shows the music getting a little bit more experimental while also adding in some traces of Hindu music and spoken word parts.

Slave One plays a style of death metal that is very progressive and technical sounding while the band also has more of an original approach to the genre, the production sounds very professional while t he lyrics cover philosophical, esoteric and metaphysical themes.

In my opinion Slave One are a very great sounding progressive and technical death metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this recording. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "The Antikythera Mechanism" "For Shiva Whispered the Universe" and "Degenesis". 8 out of 10.

Monday, March 14, 2016

Ferium are a band from Israel that has been featured before in this zine and plays a mixture of death, groove metal and metalcore and this is a review of their self released 2016 album "Behind The Black Eyes".

Clean yet distorted playing starts off the album before going into a heavier direction and all of the musical instruments sound very powerful and thy also add in metalcore style aggressive vocals and death metal growls and you can also hear some melodies being mixed in with the guitar riffing and they alos add in more of a modern groove metal style at times.

When guitar leads are added into the music they give the songs more of a technical edge and when the music speeds up a small amount of blast beats can be heard and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and clean playing also makes a return in certain sections of the recording along with one of the tracks being all instrumental while a couple of songs also bring in a brief use of spoken word parts before returning back to a heavier musical direction and the last track is very long and epic in length.

Ferium creates another recording that takes groove and metalcore and mixes it in with the heaviness of death metal while also being very modern at the same time, the production sounds very professional for being a self released recording while the lyrics are a concept album based upon personal relationships.

In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Ferium and if you are a fan of death, groove metal and metalcore, you should enjoy this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Power Is All That Matters" "Losing The Grip" and "A Free Man". 7/5 out of 10.

Sunday, March 13, 2016

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album? "Speech of the Flame" is finally out, so we only have to concentrate on promoting it in the best way possible. We already played at the "Speech of the the Flame" release party and tested the new songs on stage. We are now looking forward to play more gigs to present the new album properly.

2.Recently you have released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past? Of course we did not change the main characteristics of our sound, but this time we approached the songwriting in a different way. The first album was written solely by Massimiliano, while "Speech of the Flame" has been a more collective effort. The songs have more impact and the structures are a little bit more straightforward. At the same time we created more complex solos and harmonies, I think Massimo and Massimiliano really did their best on this one.

3.This is your first album in 4 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?We were forced to make some line-up changes, Massimo and Gianmarco were recruited just after the release of "Morning will come no more" and they had to learn the old tracks in order to be ready for the live performances. Once we stabilized the band we started working on the new material. After we created and recorded it we had some problems with the previous label and everything was delayed. We were lucky to enter in the Lord of the Flies recs rooster, Cristian was a fan of the band and immediately showed the will to release the album as soon as he could.

4.The lyrics cover the darkest side of ancient Mediterranean civilities, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in those topics?This time we wanted a main lyrical theme and Massimiliano suggested the ancient Greek and Mikenes cultures. These civilities were part of our history and their myths permeated all the Mediterranean cultures. We are Italian so we can still breath this legacy, specially in the south where the band was founded 20 years ago. Me and Massimiliano wrote all the lyrics, I think they fit the music perfectly.

5.The bands name from Norse Mythology, are the band members also interested in Paganism?Not really, the band name has been chosen in 1995 by a guy who is not even in the band anymore. I think it represents the power of the band's sound very well but it's not really related to our thematic anymore.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?To be honest I would say that the most recent shows are the best. We have improved dramatically in terms of cohesion and our live performances are getting better all the times. Our shows are definitely simple and based only on the brutality and darkness of the music.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?We have a couple of show in italy planned on may, we will confirm them as soon as possible. It would be great to visit some European countries again, we played in Germany and Sweden in the past and it was a blast. Anyone who is interested in arranging something can contact us at paintingtheabyss@gmail.com

8.The album was released 'Lord Of The Flies Records' can you tell us a little bit more about this label?It is a new label runned by scene veteran Cristian Colonna. He released only quality material so far and we trusted him immediately. He was a fan of the band since the release of our first album, it's great when you find a label where you are not only a number among others.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal?So far our music has been well reviewed and received everywhere. Anyway "Speech of the flame" has just been released, so we are curious to read the comments. I hope that we can build a bigger fan base and start making some serious tour to bring our music everywhere.

10.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the other band members are a part of?Me and Massimo play in Hateful, a Death Metal band with a more Technical twist. We have played For the first time outside of Italy this year in January. We are currently working on a third album and trying to organize another minitour in Europe. Gianmarco, the drummer is busy with the hardcore Italian legends Raw Power and also Massimiliano works with a couple of local bands. We are busy guys eheh.

11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?We definitely don't want to repeat ourselves. With this new album you can hear a strong progression in terms of songwriting and with the next album we hope to do the same. I think it will be a balanced mix of killer riffs and dark, majestic melodies. We already have a couple of new songs to rehearse and I am sure we are going in the right direction!

12.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?Since day one we were voracious listeners of the early nineties Florida Death Metal. Massimiliano is a Morbid Angel, Pestilence and Death addicted (just like myself) and we grew up with that sounds in our mind. Having said that there are more external influences like Classic metal, Doom and some Black Metal stuff here and there. Vocally speaking I tried to make "Speech of the Flame" more diverse using different vocal styles from song to song. I always loved "Blessed are the Sick" vocal approach, where each song has it's own "pitch".

13.What are some of your non musical interests?I am a painter and decorator, so I'd say everything related to visual arts is my main interest together with music. You can check a selection of my works at www.facebook.com/danielelupidiartist .

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?Thanks for the interview! We recently released a video clip for "Tyrants" , you can check our facebook page www.facebook.com/valgrindband. We can't wait to see you guys on the road. Thanks for the support!!!